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“Goddammit, what a load of bollocks. Yous two are makin’ my blood pressure rise sky high, I’ll tell ye. Brennan, give me a whiskey and I’ll go back to my table. Bree, stop lettin’ my boyo run ye away, ye hear? Yous meant for each other, and no other lad can fill Dec’s place. Yous were yee high when yous fell in love. From the moment yous met, I’d said ‘Bree’s gonna be our Dec’s one day.’”
Wow. Just wow. Kate swallowed and glanced over at Bree from the corner of her eye who started to softly sob. Bree dabbed her tears with a dark green napkin with the yellow Lucky logo on top. When Pops let go of Bree’s hand and stood from his barstool, Kate took the opportunity to finally bring the glass of wine to her lips.
Before she took a sip, she heard Pops whisper to Bree, “Never once did anyone say love was easy, my dear lass.”
As he patted her shoulder, Bree grabbed his big hand in hers and squeezed before releasing it. The familiarity between them gave Kate a wave of homesickness, which she quickly tried to shed by taking another sip of her wine. Being in Austin with her two sisters while her parents and three brothers were still in New Jersey proved to be harder than she’d ever imagined.
“I know, Pops, I know. It’s just so hard, holding on…. He told me straight up that he didn’t want to be with me. How can I disregard that? I…. He’s all I’ve ever wanted, but I’ve got to have some self-respect, Pops. I hope you can respect my decision.”
“Aye, dear lass. I love ye, ye know that. Nothin’s gonna change that, silly girl.” He kissed the back of her curly brown head and nodded at Kate before he returned to his table in the corner of the pub.
“I’m sorry, Kate. I guess Monday night drinks are a terrible idea after all.”
Kate chuckled along with Bree. She grabbed Bree’s shoulder and pulled her in for a big side hug. “I’m sorry too. I had no idea just how much you’re—”
“In love with him?” Bree snorted. “I know. I’m trying to pull up those damn big girl panties and just let go of him already. Pops can say all he wants, but I’m not going to tell Dec that I’m in love with him ever again. I’d rather eat dirt.”
Kate let go of her friend, and they smiled softly at each other. “I’m guessing Craig doesn’t know about your feelings for Declan?”
Craig was a colleague who Bree started dating last week. He’d been asking her out for two years now, but except for a kiss after a faculty softball game for St. Helena’s Kindergarten, she seemed reluctant to date him.
“It’s all one big mess, Kate. You know Craig. He’s good-looking. He’s sweet. He can cook. He makes me laugh.” Bree counted off all of Craig’s good qualities on her fingers. “Ugh, I just can’t seem to shake Dec. He’s stuck somewhere under my skin, and even while being on a date with Craig, I was thinking about Dec the whole night. I’m a bitch, right?”
“No, don’t say that. You’re entitled to make your own choices. If you want to date Craig, you date Craig. If you want to give Declan another chance, you give him a kick in the butt so he can step up. Just… be real to Craig, you know? If you’re not that into him, then maybe you should let him know.”
Bree nodded. “I know. I don’t think our second date to the mini golf course on Thursday is going to change my feelings for him.”
Kate guffawed and shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s the place to have an epiphany about your love life.”
Bree chuckled and knocked her shoulder to Kate’s. “Sooo, enough about me. How was your weekend?”
Kate cleared her throat before she answered her best friend. “So, as I mentioned earlier on the playground—”
“Donovan showed up on Saturday, almost kissed you, and then he ran from you like his ass was on fire when Errin came home?” Bree interrupted and smirked at Kate.
“Yeah… well, that.”
Kate glanced over at Pops and Brennan who were having a discussion at Pops’s table. Probably about Pops interfering with his grandson’s love life. Thank goodness Pops left her alone tonight. If he would drill her regarding Donovan, she’d definitely end up crying like Bree’d done.
Maybe he didn’t ask Kate anything concerning Donovan because he knew Donovan could never be serious about her. Maybe Pops didn’t take it seriously, since she’s clearly not Donovan’s usual type. She was a normal, boring kindergarten teacher. Not at all like her outgoing sisters, Bree, or any of the random women he picked up in Lucky.
“What?” Bree asked as she touched Kate’s arm.
Kate shook herself from her thoughts. “I know it’s stupid, but for a moment, I really thought he wanted to be with me. Huh, weird right? I—”
“Stop it, Kate. I know you’ve been hurt before by your asshole ex—John was it?”
“Yeah.”
“Stop thinking that you’re not worthy of him.” Bree squeezed her arm. “You’re sweet, you’re funny, and you turn heads wherever you go.”
Bree gave Kate a stern look when she only shrugged at Bree’s kind words.
Kate sighed before explaining to her friend, “I don’t know. I’ve always been insecure, I guess, and dating John didn’t do me any favors on that point. We dated on and off for two years until we broke up three years ago. Have I told you about Errin walking in on John and some random girl having sex in a bathroom stall at a club? Errin quickly sent a text to my brothers, and they showed up at the club and took John outside to have a ‘talk.’”
Bree swallowed the rest of her wine and placed the empty glass on the bar. “Ah, so John suffered from ‘the wandering eye’ syndrome?”
Kate guffawed. “Ha, you can say that. My family didn’t even know he had cheated on me before. I just couldn’t tell them about my failing relationship. After the first time it had happened, I thought it was my fault he’d cheated because I wouldn’t sleep with him for the first six months of our relationship.”
